Eden Hazard has grown during the course of this season (Picture: AP Photo)

Monday night saw arguably Chelsea’s greatest performance of the season as they proved that Manchester City were not invincible at home.

Jose Mourinho got his tactics right and every player put in a mammoth performance. It was a night like this that made you realise just why Juan Mata was deemed as dispensable by Mourinho. Eden Hazard, Willian and Ramires were chasing down every lost cause and they hassled and harried the City midfielders, denying them room to work their magic.

Hazard led by example and although Nemanja Matic was awarded man of the match it could have been any number of players and Hazard was certainly among their number. Upon his return to Stamford Bridge Mourinho earmarked Hazard as the player he was most looking forward to working with and said he believed Hazard could develop into one of the world’s greatest player, if he was willing to work for it.

Over the past few months Hazard’s performances have suggested he has developed into a player who knows he is the focal point of this team. He seems to have taken on more responsibility to become the player that the others look to in order to make things happen. The Belgian was simply irresistible on Monday, the City backline just couldn’t take the ball off him, such was his close control. He won an astonishing eleven dribbles according to WhoScored and he was a joy to watch as well as being a constant menace.

The eventual man of the match was hardly undeserving though, Nemanja Matic gave an exceptional performance in his first Premier League start. The Serbian was signed in order to strengthen a weak Chelsea midfield and he has done exactly that. He broke up Manchester City attacks before they had begun and he knew exactly when to step forward and support the attack. He is clearly a far more developed player technically than the man he replaced, John Obi Mikel. He offers another dimension to Chelsea’s midfield and he already looks like a shrewd signing.

Perhaps his biggest accomplishment of the game was in shackling Yaya Toure and making the Ivorian look quite normal. He shrugged Toure off the ball with ease and dominated City’s midfield general. No player has made Toure look this average in the Premier League since his arrival from Barcelona and it did no end of good for Matic’s reputation.

As mentioned earlier every player did tremendously well; Gary Cahill and Willian impressed particularly but Hazard and Matic really stood out. The pair are 23 and 25 respectively and they could be at the forefront of this new Chelsea, a team that look like they could be a real force in English football.